Hikari has two food products that you can feed to your newly-born fish fry. So, what’s the difference between the Hikari First Bites and Hikari Baby Brine Shrimps?
You can find out here in this comparison guide.
Quick Summary
Hikari First Bites are sinking granules that provide plenty of nutrition to help your baby fish grow up healthily with enhanced coloration.
Aside from providing some Vitamin B2, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C, the frozen Hikari Baby Brine Shrimps are nowhere near as healthy as the competition. With that said, there is a really good chance that your fish fry will prefer eating the brine shrimps over the granules.
So, if you can only get one of these products, then we recommend getting the Hikari First Bites as it will be better for the health of your growing fish. If you don’t mind purchasing both, then your fish should enjoy the occasional frozen brine shrimps that you can feed as a snack as well.
Hikari First Bites vs. Hikari Baby Brine Shrimps Comparison Chart
You can take a look at Aquarium Blueprints’ comparison table for the Hikari First Bites and Baby Brine Shrimp below.
| Hikari First Bites | Hikari Baby Brine Shrimps | |
|---|---|---|
| Food Sizes | Sinking granules | Cube packs |
| Packaging Sizes | 0.35 oz (or 10 g) | 1.75 oz. (or 50 g) |
| Feeding Directions | Feed as much as your fish are willing to eat within 1 minute for up to 10 times a day | Feed as much as your fish are willing to eat within 1 minute for up to 10 times a day |
| Storage Directions | Room temperature | Refrigerate |
| Ingredients | Fish meal Wheat flour Krill meal Soybean meal Brewers dried yeast Spirulina Dried seaweed meal Rice bran Astaxanthin Garlic DL-methionine Choline chloride Vitamin E supplement L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C) Inositol D-calcium pantothenate Riboflavin Vitamin A supplement Thiamine mononitrate Pyridoxine hydrochloride Niacin Folic acid Vitamin D3 supplement Biotin Vitamin B12 supplement P-aminobenzoic acid Silicon dioxide Monosodium phosphate Disodium phosphate Salt Ferrous sulfate Magnesium sulfate Zinc sulfate Manganese sulfate Copper sulfate Calcium iodate | Baby brine shrimp Water DHA oil Vitamin E supplement L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C) Thiamine mononitrate Riboflavin (vitamin B2) Pyridoxine hydrochloride Vitamin B12 supplement |
| Nutritional Values | Crude Protein: min. 48.0% Crude Fat: min. 3.0% Crude Fiber: max. 2.0% Moisture: max. 10.0% Ash: max. 18.0% Phosphorus: min. 1.3% Vitamin A: min. 10,000 IU/kg Vitamin D3: min. 1,500 IU/kg Vitamin E: min. 330 IU/kg Ascorbic Acid: min. 220 mg/kg | Crude Protein: min. 1.2% Crude Fat: min. 0.5% Crude Fiber: max. 0.5% Moisture: max. 97.5% Phosphorus: min. 0.01% Vitamin B2: min. 2 mg/kg Vitamin B12: min. 200 µg/kg Vitamin C: min. 10 mg/kg |
| Pricing | Check price on Amazon. (#CommissionsEarned) | Check price on Amazon. (#CommissionsEarned) |
Food Sizes
When it comes to the food sizes, the Hikari First Bites are made up sinking granules. Hikari Baby Brine Shrimps are frozen in cube packs.
Packaging Sizes
As for the packaging sizes, the First Bites are packed into a 0.35 oz (or 10 g) bag while the Baby Brine Shrimps are packed into a 1.75 oz. (or 50 g) container.
Feeding Directions
The feeding directions for both products are basically the same as you are instructed to feed your fishy fry as much as they are willing to eat within a span of 1 minute. You can feed them up to 10 times a day if necessary.
After each feeding period, you may want to remove any uneaten food so that they won’t decompose and release ammonia in your aquarium.
Storage Directions
You should be able to store the Hikari First Bites in room temperature.
Because the Hikari Baby Brine Shrimps, the product needs to be refrigerated to keep its freshness and prevent it from spoiling.
Ingredients
You can find the ingredients for both products below (the most prominent ingredients are listed at the top for these two products):
Hikari First Bites:
- Fish meal
- Wheat flour
- Krill meal
- Soybean meal
- Brewers dried yeast
- Spirulina
- Dried seaweed meal
- Rice bran
- Astaxanthin
- Garlic
- DL-methionine
- Choline chloride
- Vitamin E supplement
- L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C)
- Inositol
- D-calcium pantothenate
- Riboflavin
- Vitamin A supplement
- Thiamine mononitrate
- Pyridoxine hydrochloride
- Niacin
- Folic acid
- Vitamin D3 supplement
- Biotin
- Vitamin B12 supplement
- P-aminobenzoic acid
- Silicon dioxide
- Monosodium phosphate
- Disodium phosphate
- Salt
- Ferrous sulfate
- Magnesium sulfate
- Zinc sulfate
- Manganese sulfate
- Copper sulfate
- Calcium iodate
Hikari Baby Brine Shrimp:
- Baby brine shrimp
- Water
- DHA oil
- Vitamin E supplement
- L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C)
- Thiamine mononitrate
- Riboflavin (vitamin B2)
- Pyridoxine hydrochloride
- Vitamin B12 supplement
Nutritional Values
When you break both products down by their nutritional values, the Hikari First Bites provides more crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, ash, phosphorus, Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E and Ascorbic Acid.
On the other hand, the Hikari Baby Brine Shrimp offers more Vitamin B2, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C.
Overall, the First Bites product is easily the healthier food when compared to the First Bites.
You can find a breakdown of the nutritional values of these two fish foods below:
Hikari First Bites:
- Crude Protein: min. 48.0%
- Crude Fat: min. 3.0%
- Crude Fiber: max. 2.0%
- Moisture: max. 10.0%
- Ash: max. 18.0%
- Phosphorus: min. 1.3%
- Vitamin A: min. 10,000 IU/kg
- Vitamin D3: min. 1,500 IU/kg
- Vitamin E: min. 330 IU/kg
- Ascorbic Acid: min. 220 mg/kg
Hikari Baby Brine Shrimp:
- Crude Protein: min. 1.2%
- Crude Fat: min. 0.5%
- Crude Fiber: max. 0.5%
- Moisture: max. 97.5%
- Phosphorus: min. 0.01%
- Vitamin B2: min. 2 mg/kg
- Vitamin B12: min. 200 µg/kg
- Vitamin C: min. 10 mg/kg
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